In today’s consumer-driven economy, brands are finding more than before the need to engage the customer. Years before, back in 2015, Apple ran a campaign dedicated for the iPhone 6, garnering over 8.7 million of posts on Instagram to date (August 2019). Imagine 8.7 million votes for the iPhone 6 from people coming from all walks of life – that’s powerful. That is the power of User Generated Content (UGC) marketing.
Question is, what happens when working with a small budget and little to no brand awareness, say for a new brand?
At Thinktechniq, we have helped clients establish a credible visual voice on platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. In one case, the number of page followers on the Facebook page grew from zero to over 100,000 in a month; on the Instagram page, many of the posts consistently garner over thousands of likes, with some even reaching near 60,000 likes.
Content curation is key. Anybody can apply this method. What it takes is an understanding of the target audience – a brand impresses the audience when its content offers something that others do not. Getting into the audience’s awareness is the first step to building a relationship with them. Cost-effectiveness is one significant advantage of this method, which is especially helpful for new brands.
Users trust content from ‘people like them’ more than branded content – that is the biggest reason why content curation and the UGC. Consumers today are attracted to authentic content. They view content generated by everyday people like them as a more authentic form of content compared to brand-created content – they are 2.4 times more likely to think so.
Content curation entails sourcing, annotating, and sharing third-party content with your audience. UGC is part of the content curation family. UGC involves rallying brand followers (fans) to contribute content, which is what Apple did with the ‘Shot on iPhone’ campaign for iPhone 6. For brands that do not have significant brand recognition and user base yet, enlist photos shot by online users on social media, especially Instagram. Appearing on out-of-home advertising spaces and consumer’s smartphones, the #shotoniphone campaign pulled together photos captured by 77 iPhone 6 users from 24 countries and displayed them on huge billboards, bus stops and train stations in major cities.
Campaigns that incorporate UGC can see up to a 50% lift in engagement. You do not have to be a deep-pocketed big brand to reach your audience. Marketing is about communicating with your audience – make it a genuine one they’ll enjoy. Want to see how your brand can establish a visual voice with our no BS approach? Have a chat with us!